Channel-forming device for silt-carrying rivers



June 17,1930. 1,765,041

" CHANNEL FORMING DEVICE FOR SILT CARRfI ING RIVERS M. WATERS Filed Ap ri1 6, 192'?" 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 17, 1930.;

M. WATERS CHANNEL FORMING DEVICE FOR SILT CARRYING RIVERS Filed April 6, 1927 v, 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 17, 1930 nrrr; stare ,MrcnAnL wnrnns, or'sroux CITY, IOWA rue-ash earner Application filed. April 6,

My invention relates to a channel-forming device for silt-carrying rivers such as the Missouri, and it is my object to provide a device for deepening the channelof such a river in such a manner as to allow the current of the river to aio in the channel-forming operation. 1

My invention therefore contemplates an improved method of forming a channel in a river.

A further object of the invention is to provide mechanism for successfully accomplishing the foregoing object, including a constantly rotating agitator and cutter for loos ening the sediment in the river channel in such a manner that the current of the river will carry it away, together with a floating structure carrying said rotating cutter and a continuous positive towing mechanism to advance the, cutter against the current of the river. I

My invention further resides in the mechanism for carrying the rotating cutter so as to allow ita wide range of vertical movement relative to the floating structure without interfering with the power transmission and control mechanism for said carrying means.

With these and other objects in View, my invention consists in theconstruction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and

illustrated in the accompanying drawings, r in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of one end of a floating barge, equipped with one form of mechanism which may embody my invention.

. Fig. 2 is a detail, sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detail, sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. l is a side elevation of the device, illustrating a river bed in section and showing the method of operation of the device.

Fig. 5 is a detail, sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a detail, sectional View taken on the line 66 of Fig. 1, and, V

1927. $eria1 No. 181,435.

Fig. 7 shows one of the cutting. links of the cutter drive chain. I

. The problem of keeping a river, such as the Missouri river, open tornavigation, isa very serious'one, due to characteristics which are5 possibly peculiar to that particular river and at least more marked thanin any other case. The river flows through anarea of the finest and richest soil to be foundanywhere and its bed is composed entirely of silt or finely and evenly divided particles; lhis silt hassome} times been called quick sandland at times, when the river has not recently'been at a high stage so as to be'carryingan undueamount of fresh soil, the soil of the river bed becomes very firm and free from what might be termed mud.

, Whether considered as sand or loam or'a mixture of both, this material, which has been deposited on the river bed, having settled down, due to its being heavier than the particles which continually give the river its muddy appearance, is very finely divided and, although it will settle to the bottom, it is con stantly being again swept up by the current and deposited at other spots.

The current of the river isvery swift, considering the-fact that flows through the prairie country and the-volume of water carried by the river is very large. Y

Consequently the "river is continually changing its course, cutting into the bank onone side, and building up deposits on the other, so that its channel never remains constant. Should the channel be dredged out, it would soon fill again at places and, since the cost of dredging is very high, the expenses of maintaining a navigable channel by dredging would therefore be prohibitive.

It has been my idea to utilize the tendency ofthe river to cut for the purpose of deepening the channel. Inorder to do this, however, the current must be given an opportunity to act ina vertical direction. In View of the vast quantity. of sedimentary. material 0rdinarily carried by the current and the weight of a portion of it causing it to settle very eas ily, it is ordinarily easier for the channel to cut at the sides of the river bank than to cut downwardly and this is the way that the cutting is ordinarily done.

My invention contemplates a mechanical agitator or cutter for removing or displacing a portion of the sediment. The actual cutting of this mechanical device is done at the bottom of the channel to be formed and the river is allowed to remove the remainingsediment above the cutter.

Before proceeding with a more detailed eX- planation of the method, I will describe the mechanism by which it is carried out. This mechanism includes some sort of floating element such as a barge and the barge is anchored in the stream by means of an anchor 11, connected by a cable 12, to a capstan 13 on the barge. The purpose of the capstan 13 is to feed the barge toward the anchor. The

usual rudder, not shown, may be employed for keeping the barge in the proper position, relative to the bed of the stream. Since the barge is held against the current flowing past it, it will be seen that the current will act against the rudder in the usual manner. In order to rotate the capstan, it is mounted, (Fig. 6), on a gear 14, journalled within a casing 15 and meshing with a drive pinion 16. The pinion 16 is driven by a shaft 17, carrying the worm wheel 18, meshing with aworm 19 on a shaft 20, which extends outwardly beyond the worm casing 21 where it carriesa sprocket 22.

An engine 23 is coupled to the drive shaft 24 which is mounted in bearings 25 and carries the capstan drive sprocket 26 and cutter drive sprocket 27, respectively. Both sprockets are loosely mounted on the shaft 24, the sprocket 26 being positioned against a collar 28 and the sprocket 27 against the bearing 25. Clutchelements 29 and 30, respectively, are splined to the shaft 24 to, co act with clutch elements 31 and 32, respectively, on the sprockets 26 and 27. Shifting levers 33 and 34 engage the collars of the clutch elements 29 and 30, respectively, and are employed to throw into gear either the sprocket 26 or 27.

A. chain 35 connects the sprockets 26 and 22.

It will now be seen that when the clutch lever 33 is thrown inwardly, the clutch element 29 will couple the sprocket 26 with the shaft 24, thereby transmitting rotation to the capstan through its reduction gearmg shown in Fig. 6, rotating it at a slow rate of speed and feeding the barge forwardly toward the anchor 11.

The cutter comprises ashaft 36,upon.which are secured the individual cutting elements comprising sleeves 37, secured to the shaft, arms 38, projecting from the sleeves and integral therewith, and steel blades 39, secured to the ends of the arms 38 by means of bolts 40 which may be removed to change blades. The forward ends of the blades 39 are sharpened as at 41 and the heels thereof carry studs 42.

The shaft 36 is journalled in bearings 42, secured to the ends of the cutter arms 44, which in turn are hung upon a shaft 45, carried in bearings 46 and 47, secured to the barge. The bearings 43 have removable caps 48 to allow removal of the shaft 36. The inner ends of the arms 44 are cut away, as at 49 in Fig. 5, to receive the heads 50 of bearings 51, removably secured to the arms by means of bolts 52.

It will be noted that the bearing heads 50 cover substantially the upper half of the shaft 45. Since the entire weight of the arms 44 is received in a downward direction against the shaft 45, the lower half of the bearing is formed by the arm 44.

The bearings 46 and 47 are provided with removable caps 53 to allowremoval of the shaft from its bearings. i

A sprocket 54 ismounted upon the shaft 45 between the collar 55 and the friction clutch element 56, which is secured to the shaft 45 and co-acts with a clutch element 57, secured to the sprocket 54. A sprin 58 is interposed between the collar 55 and the sprocket to maintain the clutch elements in driving engagement with each other. A chain 54 connects the sprockets 54 and 27 and extends through a water-tight casing 54 in the barge.

Sprockets 59 and '60, respectively, are aligned on the shafts 45 and 36, respectively, and are connected by chains 61 fortransmitting power from the shaft 45 to the shaft 36. It will now be seen that when the clutch element 30 is moved into engagement with the clutch element 32, the rotation will be transmitted from the shaft 24 to the shaft 45 through the medium of the friction clutch elements 56 and 57 and thence to the cutter, which will revolve at approximately the same speed as the motor. Thus the rotation of the cutter is much more rapid than that of the capstan,-which is geared down and ordinarily both may be allowed to operate simultaneously with little attention, the forward feed thus being practically automatic. Before proceeding to a description of the hoisting mechanism, I will describe in detail the operation of the cutter. Assuming the cutter to have been lowered to the proper depth, which will normally be three or four feet below the surface of the river bed, and having been rotated during the lowering op eration, so as to dig a path for itself, the forward feed will then be thrown into operation and the barge will commence to move up the river against the current, feeding the cutter against the bank of quick sand or silt, which has been indicated generally in Fig. 4 by the reference character 62. As the cutter proceeds forwardly, it will rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow 63 in Fig. 4, each knife, as it comes into contact with the silt bank, serving to pare a slice of mud therefrom and to force it rearwardly into the body "mean blade of any loose matter which may remain therein.

It will'be remembered that the nature of the silt deposit isfsuch that it will not cling to the blades of the cutter but will rapidly dissolve or be disseminated in the body of water, after having been loosened from the bank. The studs 42 will aid the blades in paring away the siltby scratching a channel ahead of the next cutter. The channel thus formed will make it easier for the silt to move laterally and be disseminated as the blade tears it away from the bank. The swift current of the river flowing over the hump of the bank, formed between the old river bed and the new channel, will receive a downward deflection, due to eddy currents formed behind the bank somewhat, as indicated by the arrows 64: in Fig. 4 and in thus passing downwardly across the shoulder of the bank, will rapidly cut away the material above the cutter so that the actual cutting of the cutter will be done only below the axis of the cutter.

It will be understood that the current is capable of conveying away the silt at a very rapid rate and that the silt disintegrates under the slightest action of the water currents. The channel having already formed below the place where thecutting is bein done, there will be little tendency for this silt to be again deposited within the channel. It is understood, of course, that a certain amount of the silt will again settle upon the bottom of the channel but a greater proportion of it will be spread through the body of water, not only over the channel, but beyond the sides thereof also, and will bedeposited in other spots where depositing ordinarily occurs. The tendency for depositing to occur in the channel will be checked by the increased swiftness of the stream of water flowing in that area,'due to the deepening of the river bed.

In order to adjust the height of the cutter without interfering with the cutting operation, I provide hoisting mechanism as follows:

Mounted in bearings 65, on the barge 10, is a shaft 66, carrying at its ends and intermediate its length, the winding drums 67. A gear 68 is secured to the shaft and is meshed with a pinion 69 on a shaft 70, operated by a hand crank 71 and j ournalled in bearings 7 2. A ratchet 73 on the shaft 66 is engaged by a pawl 7 4 on the bearing and prevents rotation of the shaft 66 is unwinding direction except when the pawl 7 4 is lifted. Booms 7 5 are carried by sockets 67, secured to the barge 10 and at their outer ends are provided the pulleys 77, over which cables 7 8extend from the drums 67 to the ends of the arms 44,-. R0- tation of the crank 71 serves to wind the cables 78 upon the drums 67 and thereby to lift the ends of the arms 44, to which the cables are secured, as shown in Fig. 2.

In order to brace the booms 7 5, I provide a derrick structure 79, from the top of which the tie rods 80 extend to the upper ends of the booms, being secured thereto by means of yokes 81. There are three of the booms 75 and three drums 67 and cables 78,,aswell as three arms 44:, I

In order that the leverage obtained bythe cables 7 8, pulling against arms 44, may remain substantialy constant, I provide the floating booms 82, pivoted at their inner ends upon the shafts l5 and at their outer ends provided with forks 88, through which the cables 78' pass. The booms 82are limited against movement downwardly,- beyond the position shown in Fig. 4, by brackets 84, se-

cured to the barge. They are limited against movement against the cutter by buttons 85, secured to the cables 78. Thus the cables 7 8 will sometimes slide through the forks 83 and at'other times the booms 82 will move with the h cables. The booms, ordinarily assume, how-,

ever, an intermediate position between the cutter and the fixed booms 7.5. The object of the floating booms 82 is to maintain the pull of the cable 78 as near as angles-to the arms 44.

The chains 61 are provided withcutting links 61*, which are sulliciently illustrated in Fig. 7 to require no detailed description. The purpose of these links is to loosen the silt in the'vicinity of the arms 44:.

Some changes maybe made in the construction and arrangement of the 'partsof my invention without departing from the real possible at right spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of.mechanical equivalents, wh1ch may be reason- .ably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention: i 1. In a channel-form ng dev ce, a float ng structure, adapted to be moved agamst the current of a river, a power. plant thereon, a

shaft journalled on said structure forwardly llO thereof'in a position transverse to the direcf tion of travel thereof, said shaft being driven from the power plant, a cutter frame swingingly mounted on said shaft at one end, a cutter journalled in the free end of said frame, on an axis parallel to said shaft, a driving connection between the cutter and shaft, a 1

plurality of floating booms, each journalled at one end upon said shaft and extending for winding said cables.

g 2. In a channel-forming device, a floating structure, adapted to be moved against the current of a river, a power plant thereon, a

shaft journalled on said structure forwardly thereof in a position transverse to the direction of travel thereof, said shaft being driven from the power plant, a cutter frame swingingly mounted on said shaft at one end, a cutter journalled in the free end of said frame, on an axis parallel to said shaft, a driving connection between the cutter and shaft, said shaft being positioned below the level of the deck of the floating structure, a driving element connecting said shaft with the power plant and extending through the floating structure and a casing secured in the floating structure and inclosing'a portion of said driving element.

3. In a channel forming device, a floating structure adapted to be moved against the current of a river, a cutter frame swingin'gly mounted on the floating structure on a horizontal axis positioned forwardly thereof transverse to the direction of travel thereof,

a rotary cutter journalled in the free end of the cutter frame, a plurality of floating booms, each hinged at oneend to the floating structure, forwardly thereof, on a transverse,

horizontal axis, and extending over the cutter, a plurality of fixed booms, secured to the floating structure and extending above said floating booms, a plurality of cables secured to the frame extending around the ends'of the floating booms and slidingly engaged thereby and thence extending around the ends of the fixed booms and'means for I winding said cables.

at. In a channel forming device, a floating structure adapted to be moved against the current of a river, a cutter frame swingingly mounted on the floating structure on a horizontal axis positioned forwardly thereof transverse to the direction of travel thereof,

ture and extending above said floating booms, a plurality of cables secured to the frame extending around the ends of the floating booms and slidingly engaged thereby and thence extending around the ends of the fixed booms and means for winding said cables.

5. In a channel forming device, a floating structure adapted to be moved, against the current of a river, a cutter frame swingingly mounted on the floating structure on a hori zontal axis positioned forwardly thereof transverse to the direction of travel thereof, a rotary cutter journalled in the free end of the cutter frame, a plurality of floating booms, each hinged at one end to the floating structure, on a transverse, horizontal axis, and extending over the. cutter, means secured to the floating structure and extending above said floating booms, a plurality of pulleys journalled on said means, a plurality of cables secured to the frame extending 

